‘Red Riding’ to Come Stateside

'Red Riding' to Come Stateside

Can’t say I didn’t see this one coming. When I caught the first 2/3 of the Red Riding trilogy last weekend, I was reminded of earlier British TV projects like Traffik and State of Play. Both of those were eventually made into acclaimed Hollywood movies, so I guess it makes sense that Red Riding would as well. The one big difference: Traffik and State of Play were not released theatrically in their original incarnations. IFC Films will release Red Riding early next year, so audiences will have a better opportunity to compare how it’s been remade. Variety reports that Ridley Scott and Steven Zaillian will adapt the trilogy for Columbia Pictures:

Scott will produce through his Scott Free banner, along with Zaillian, through his Film Rites banner, and Andrew Eaton of Revolutionary Films, which produced the mini. Garrett Basch of Film Rites will be executive producer.

The miniseries is a study of power and police corruption framed around the investigation of the disappearance of several young girls. For the pic, the setting will be transferred from Britain to the U.S. The mini clocked in at more than five hours, so Zaillian and Scott have their work cut out for them to compress it into one film.

Let’s just hope it’s better than the previous Scott/Zaillian crime epic, American Gangster.